GPS brogue shoes help you find your way

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Google Maps and TomToms are all well and good, but don’t you sometimes wish your feet themselves could find the right path by themselves? With these new GPS brogue shoe concepts, that wish could soon be answered.

Designed by Dominic Wilcox (who calls his Wizard of Oz-inspired shoes No Place Like Home), and commissioned by Global Footprint, the left shoe in the pair has a GPS sensor placed in the heel which is activated by clicking the two heels together.

After uploading a destination to the shoes through a USB connection from a laptop, a circle of brogue perforations reveal LEDs that light up to indicate which direction the wearer should take. The right shoe indicates distance travelled, with a progress bar of red LED lights that illuminate as the wearer gets closer to their target.

“My work is all about reimaging uses for objects, and the relationships that exist between things,” said Wilcox.

“I hope my GPS shoes will reconnect people to the craftsmanship inherent in shoe-making, but also stretch the boundaries of potential for the industry. “

It’s a nifty idea that we could actually see taking off in the real world, though you’d have to be careful not to walk into a lampost if you’re staring at your feet all the time. Also, that laptop transfer sounds a bit clunky; if they ever left the concept stages we’d love to see them pairing up with a smartphone, tablet or PC wirelessly to set a destination. Still, it seems a fun and ingenious way of directing people around town, if it works.

If you’re interested in checking out the shoes, No Place Like Home is currently being exhibited as part of Dominic’s Variations on Normal exhibition at KK Outlet, Hoxton, prior to its installation in the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery as part of Global Footprint. The exhibit will then go on show at the DESIGN TIDE event in Tokyo later in the year.